The skin (epidermis) of humans (and of terrestrial vertebrates) may suffer from a number of problems, such as: acne; wrinkles, including age spots; infections; physical damage; various rashes, including pityriasis rosea, acne rosacea; and the like. Each of these skin problems may be briefly discussed below.
Acne may result from clogged skin pores, which may be visible as pustules or pimples—i.e., what are commonly called blackheads and whiteheads. Such visible acne may be both visually unpleasant and painful. Severe acne may also result in scaring from the physical damage associated with ruptures of follicle walls, which may also form deep cysts under the skin. The clogged skin pores visible as acne may result from an overproduction of sebum oil, keratin, and/or metabolic byproducts of skin pore bacteria, as well as from the cells of skin pore bacteria. A common skin pore bacterium is Propionibacterium acnes (P. acne).
Undesirable wrinkles on the skin may result from age, environmental factors, genetic factors, and repeated facial expressions. Age may be a factor in wrinkle formation because as skin ages, it may lose elasticity, in part due to accumulated gravitational pull over time and changes in connective tissues. Additionally with age, sebum production may slow (from the sebaceous glands), which may contribute to skin dryness with age, wherein such skin dryness may enhance visibility of wrinkles. Environmental factors may include sun and wind exposure as well as exposure to smoke, which over time may also contribute to wrinkles. Further, consistent facial expressions over time such as squinting, smiling, and even thinking can result in skin wrinkles. And in addition to wrinkles, age spots, such as liver spots and solar lentigines may also appear on the skin as the skin ages and is exposed to various environmental factors over time.
Additionally, various microorganisms, which may include bacteria, fungi, protozoans, and even some small invertebrates may infect skin, both on the surface and within the skin tissue, with varying levels of severity. For example, the mere presence of some such microorganisms, whether dead or alive, may act as an irritant, causing inflammation. Some microorganism metabolic byproducts may also act as irritants; whereas, some byproducts may actually be toxic. And some microorganisms may actually feed on the skin itself and/or the natural secretions of the skin, such as sebum. Such microorganisms may also infect open wounds on the skin and use such open wounds to gain entry to the body, and pose a larger bodily infectious threat.
Additionally, viruses may cause contagious, painful, and/or unpleasant looking lesions and blisters, e.g., cold sores. Such lesions and blisters if ruptured may result in physical damage to the skin, as well as pain. Such viruses may include herpes and herpes like viruses.
With respect to physical damage to the skin, this may include: various wounds, cuts, abrasions, burns, lesions, blisters, ruptures, and the like. Such physical damage to the skin may result in scarring as the skin heals and prior to healing may increase chances for various microorganism infection.
Such skin problems, particularly when occurring on the face, because of the inherent visibility to others of the face, may result in collateral detrimental effects, such as to one's psychological, social, and occupational wellbeing.
Pityriasis rosea may be a type of skin rash. Often, pityriasis rosea may begin with a single “herald patch” an oval red lesion of 2 to 10 centimeters (cm), followed in one or two weeks by a generalized body rash of many small (5 to 10 millimeter (mm)) patches of pink and/or red, flaky, oval shaped lesions, which often appear on the torso, but may also appear on the cheeks and/or at the hairline.
Acne rosacea or just rosacea may be a chronic skin rash condition characterized by facial erythema (redness) and sometimes pimples. Rosacea may affect all ages. Rosacea may typically begin as redness on the central face across the cheeks, nose, or forehead, but may also affect the neck, chest, ears, and/or scalp. In some cases, additional signs, such as semi-permanent redness, telangiectasia (dilation of superficial blood vessels on the face), red domed papules (small bumps) and pustules, red gritty eyes, burning and stinging sensations, and in some advanced cases, a red lobulated nose (rhinophyma), may be present.
The prior state of the art has responded to such problems with a diversity of technologies. For example, there may be a plethora of various topical ointments and creams for treating various skin problems. However, relevant here, may be the application of soaking the affected skin in an immersion liquid. Regardless of explanation, the prior state of art has shown a positive correlation with improvements to the above noted skin problems with soaking the skin in an appropriate immersion liquid. For example, such a treatment modality may be known in the art generally as hydrotherapy when the immersion liquid in question may be predominantly water. However, such hydrotherapy principles may be applied to other such immersion liquids, such as various oils, various paraffin waxes (typically heated), and oil water mixtures (emulsions). As used herein, hydrotherapy may be a means of treating various skin problems, by immersing the skin in a particular immersion liquid, wherein the immersion liquid may be predominantly water or some other liquid, such as an oil in liquid form at room temperature or an appropriate temperature, such as paraffin wax in liquid form when appropriately heated, or an oil and water mixture.
Such hydrotherapy may involve soaking a target region of skin within the immersion liquid. The immersion liquid may comprise various properties. For example, the immersion liquid may contain various dissolved salts, wherein such a liquid may be known herein as a saline solution. For example, the immersion liquid may contain released oxygen, either as dissolved oxygen and/or as gas bubbles within the immersion liquid. For example, the immersion liquid may contain an increased or decreased temperature with respect to room temperature. And for example, the immersion liquid may be directed via one or more jets, such that a stream of liquid pressure may be directed at the target region of skin.
With respect to saline solutions as the immersion liquid, saline and salts as used herein may refer not only to solutions of sodium chloride, but may also refer to other minerals in solution, e.g. potassium and/or magnesium, that may be dissolved in a solvent, such as predominantly water. Various negative ions, such as chloride, may also be present in solution with the positive mineral ions. For example, sodium and potassium salt solutions may be present with chloride ions and magnesium may be present with sulfate ions, as in Epsom salt. An immersion liquid using various salts may promote different benefits. For example, some such saline solutions may soften the skin and/or others may tend to moisturize the soaked skin.
Benefits to the skin from soaking the skin in saline solutions may predominantly function by osmosis. Osmosis is a random movement of water molecules across partially-permeable membranes (such as cellular membranes, including skin cells), from an area of high water concentration (e.g. within a cell) to an area of low water concentration (e.g. the saline solution). Thus osmosis will function to draw water out of cells, including skin cells, when the saline solution has a salinity that is greater than the salinity within the cells. For example, human blood has an average salinity of about 0.85% by weight, which is often rounded to 0.9%. Thus if the saline solution that the skin may be soaking in is greater than 0.9% by weight, there will be osmotic flow of water molecules from the skin cells into the saline solution.
However, it is from this flow of water molecules across cell membranes that several benefits may result for treating and/or improving the various skin problems noted above.
For example, with respect to acne, skin with acne that is exposed to saline solutions may see a reduction in acne. Such reduction may result from the saline solution reducing sebum oil within pores, by the saline solution reducing the population of skin pore bacteria, and/or by the saline solution encouraging a reduction in skin pore size. The saline solution may help to loosen sebum oil from pores. With respect to skin pore bacteria, which may be adapted for non-saline environments, such bacteria may not be adapted to cope with the osmotic flow of water molecules out of the bacterial cells. Such saline solutions may hinder reproduction of such bacterial cells. Such saline solutions may actually kill such bacterial cells. With respect to the reduction in skin pore size, this may also result from osmotic flow of water molecules.
With respect to a reduction in wrinkles, the saline solution may reduce wrinkles by softening the wrinkled skin tissue and by stimulating the sebaceous glands to produce sebum oil which may combat age associated skin dryness. For example, exposing a face to warm water may soften facial skin in preparation and aiding in shaving whiskers (stubble) from that face. Additionally, depending upon the salinity of the given saline solution, the saline solution may have a hydrating effect upon the immersed skin.
With respect to mitigating against microorganism infection of the skin, as noted above, those microorganisms which may be predominantly present on the skin are not typically adapted to withstand osmotic flow of water molecules from within the bacterial cells. Immersion of skin in such saline solutions may result in microorganism population reduction.
With respect to improving a rate of healing damaged skin, skin immersed into saline solutions may experience an improved rate of healing by reducing the populations of microorganisms which may interfere with healing. And the osmotic flow may also aid healing damaged skin by aiding transport of nutrients and repair proteins from within the cells and tissues below the surface skin to the damaged skin site.
Thus immersion of skin into a saline solution which may have a salinity greater than the skin tissue being immersed, may result in a plurality of benefits to the immersed skin.
Now turning to oxygen treatments for the skin and how oxygen may reduce some of the skin problems identified above. Again, regardless of explanation, the state of the prior art shows a positive correlation with exposing skin to oxygen and improvements in the skin.
Molecular oxygen (atmospheric oxygen), i.e. O2, may be essential for cellular respiration and the basis for how each vertebrate cell derives energy via the Krebs Cycle (Citric Acid Cycle). Without a sufficient supply of consistent oxygen to any vertebrate cell, that cell may be hypoxic and may have a diminished capacity to operate normal cellular activities, including a diminished capacity to reproduce, to fight infection, and/or to heal. By providing oxygen in sufficient concentration directly to the skin, such exposed skin may obtain some of its needed oxygen directly, instead of relying largely upon delivery of oxygen via hemoglobin in red blood cells. Such skin cells having a steady available source of oxygen may allow such skin cells a full range of normal cellular activities. Additionally, immune system cells (e.g. macrophages and phagocytes) which target and kill infectious microorganisms better perform when such cells have an adequate supply of oxygen. And a second mechanism of oxygen reducing infectious microorganism population may be by oxygen's oxidation properties and ability to form reactive oxygen species that may then oxidize bacterial cellular machinery, such as interfering with bacterial cell walls.
Now oxygen may be applied to the skin in gaseous form and/or released as a dissolved gas and/or as gas bubbles within a liquid, including the immersion liquid. For example, atmospheric air will contain atmospheric oxygen, e.g. at approximately 20.95%. A delivered concentration of gaseous oxygen may be increased over the atmospheric percentage by using pure oxygen as a supply source. However, use of gaseous oxygen directed at skin may have the drawback of being difficult to control and manipulate due to the gasses' inherent ability to more freely and disperse. Whereas, release of oxygen in a liquid may provide for better control as the target area of skin may be immersed in the liquid, which then may have oxygen from air or pure oxygen released into the liquid.
The benefits of oxygen and saline solutions may be combined into the same immersion liquid. For example, air (which includes oxygen) and/or oxygen may be pumped or released into an appropriate saline solution. Additionally, such an oxygenated saline solution may be combined with the benefits of controlling a temperature of the oxygenated saline solution.
For example, increasing a temperature of the immersion liquid above room temperature but less than a temperature which may be harmful (e.g. painful), allows for an increase in chemical reactions (kinetics). Thus increasing the immersion liquids temperature in such a range will tend to increase the effectiveness of saline solutions as well as the effectiveness of oxygenation of the skin. Additionally, such increased temperature of the immersion liquid may result in an environment that may be soothing and relaxing to a user. Such a soothing and relaxing result may then release stress and mitigate against headaches. Release of stress may promote lowering of blood pressure, healing of damaged skin, and a stronger immune system. Thus, increasing the temperature of the immersion liquid not only may provide direct improvements to how the saline and the oxygen functions to improve the skin, but by creating the soothing and relaxing environment, a collateral benefit of stress release may be achieved, which may also then include a cascade of additional benefits.
Further, increasing the immersion liquids temperature above room temperature may then permit the immersion liquid to be used for heat therapy. Heat therapy may be used to treat not only skin problems, but also other ailments, such as, but not limited to, arthritis, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, joint stiffness, bursitis, tendonitis, sprains and pulled muscles. The heat and immersion liquid which may convey the heat, may increase blood flow, improve joint stiffness and reduce pain. For example, heated paraffin waxes as the immersion liquid may be utilized. Such heated paraffin wax may soften hardened skin caused by scleroderma, a disease in which collagen accumulates on the body.
In addition or alternatively, decreasing the immersion liquids temperature below room temperature may then permit the immersion liquid to be used for cold therapy. Chilling the liquid by use of a chiller, chilling equipment, and/or by introduction of ice, may then permit various cold therapies to be used to treat the face or other body part which may be removably immersed into the chilled liquid. Additionally or alternatively, heat therapy may be alternated with cold therapy; wherein such alternation of warmth and cold may aid in increasing blood flow, facilitating removal of cellular toxins (e.g., but not limited to, lactic acid), and/or promoting healing of burned or traumatized tissue.
Additionally, liquid jets, for example water jets, when directed at the immersed skin may also result in an environment that is soothing and relaxing to the user. Such water jets also may have their benefit increased when the immersion temperature is increased as noted per above.
Light therapy may also be used to impart various benefits to the exposed skin and/or body in general. Light therapy may involve directing a source of light at skin. Some wavelengths of light have found to increase healing rates of damaged skin, such damaging including cuts, scrapes, bruising, lacerations, lesions, and the like. Light such as ultraviolet (UV) light may also be used for skin tanning purposes. However, both existing oxygen therapy and existing light therapy are conducted in a treatment environment of atmospheric air, i.e., not with an article to be treated (e.g. a region of skin) submerged within an immersion liquid.
Additionally, it may be desirable to expand beyond just oxygen, air, or air enriched with oxygen, as treatment gasses for skin.
Additionally, current light therapy devices generally are directed at emitting only a very narrow range of wavelengths, generally within the visible light spectrum, near infrared (IR), and near ultraviolet (UV). It would be desirable to have expanded devices that may be capable of emitting electromagnetic (EM) radiation in various wavelengths that may encompass regions of the entire EM spectrum, i.e. not necessarily a single device capable of emitting across the entire EM spectrum (since different technologies may be required to produce a given range of wavelengths), but rather a multitude of EM emitting devices where each different device may be capable of emitting a particular range of wavelengths, such that these different EM emitting devices may collectively be able to cover the entire EM spectrum.
Conducting oxygen therapy and/or light therapy or other EM therapy within the immersion liquid may be desirable for several reasons. Because the liquid is more dense than atmospheric air, more control over directing oxygen (or other gas) to a target region on the article (e.g., immersed skin region) may be achieved over conducting oxygen therapy in atmospheric air, where expelled oxygen quickly dissipates into the atmospheric air. By using the immersion liquid to removably submerge the target region of the article, useful properties of the liquid may be tailored for specific applications with respect to the target region of the article. For example, liquid water, such as saline solutions, may soften the skin and make such softened skin better able to benefit from exposure to oxygen and/or various wavelengths of light. The additives in the liquid may be used to heal, cleanse, rejuvenate, sanitize, sterilize, and the like. Likewise, controlling a temperature of the liquid may then be able to impart heat or withdraw heat from the target region of the article in a much greater efficiency than may be possible where the treatment environment is atmospheric air and not the liquid. Additionally, controlling the temperature (up, down, or maintaining) of the liquid may increase or decrease the efficacy of the additives, e.g., from a kinetics perspective.
Furthermore, it has been discovered that conducting light therapy or other EM therapy may be enhanced when the EM radiation may be emitted through a plurality of bubbles within the immersion liquid, by providing an increased coverage of the target region of the article receiving EM radiation in comparison to if there were no bubbles. The emitted EM radiation and the bubbles produce an optical chain reaction (OCR) phenomena that provides this enhancement.
However, as noted above, with respect to such skin problems on the face, these problems are exacerbated because the high visibility of the face. Additionally, these skin problems on the face are exacerbated because the current state of the art does not provide a means by which the user may immerse the face to receive hydrotherapy, wherein the hydrotherapy immersion liquid may comprise saline solutions, delivery of oxygen (and/or other gasses), heating means for increasing and/or decreasing immersion liquid temperature, and/or use of liquid jets. The problem that the prior state of the art has failed to address, until this invention, results from two biological facts. One, terrestrial vertebrates breathe from their nose and/or mouth located on the face and thus a hydrotherapy means for the face needs to provide a means by which the user may breathe while the user's face is immersed. Otherwise immersion of the face is limited to how long the user can hold their breath. And two, all pre-existing vessels have no means to accommodate a neck region of the user, particularly the soft tissue regions of the neck (front and sides of the neck), so if the user were to submerge the user's face into a pre-existing vessel, a rim of that vessel would press into the neck region causing discomfort rendering the prior state of the art ineffective for hydrotherapy of the face. Or the user would have to angle their head into the prior art vessel and attempt to hold their head at an uncomfortable angle to soak their face, which if is prolonged may result in neck pain. Additionally, it may be desirable if such a device might, in at least some embodiments, comfortably support the head region of the user, particularly the forehead, to promote facial immersion that may be comfortable and not strain the neck; wherein the user may soak their face, in comfort, for extended periods of time.
There is a need in the art for devices and/or methods that permit treating specifically targeted regions of the articles (e.g., skin) to be removably submerged in the immersion liquid and then treated with various gas bubbles, such as oxygen, treated with various wavelengths of EM radiation, such as visible light, and/or providing for an enhanced EM radiation coverage of the treated region by a synergistic combination of EM radiation and bubbles that may result from directing EM radiation through bubbles in the liquid.
There then is a need in the art for a device which may promote comfortable face immersion into the immersion liquid that both allows the user to breathe while the face is immersed and that may be comfortable to the neck of the user.
It is to these ends that the present invention has been developed.